Punishable Actions
by Palpatine47
Summary: Ranma has commited a horrible crime. His reasons for it are shaky, his alibi virtually non-existent in the face of calculated knowledge. As the pressure builds up, his psyche begins to break under careful surveillance


This was madness.

Sheer, absolute madness.

The teen had done nothing wrong in his life, and to ruin all that for one tantalizingly small reward was lunacy

Sheer lunacy

It was that woman, he thought, muttering as he ran. She was the reason his hands were sticky with blood. She was the reason he was now slinking through the night like some felon

"aha, but you are a felon, my friend" he whispered, and laughed hoarsely at his joke. Seconds trickled into minutes as the not quite a man traveled through the city. The bare concrete walls seemed like impregnable cliffs, and a deepening sense of hysteria set in as the walls contracted and moved out to make space for those who moved in the day time, on their perfectly safe business. There was, however, no indication that this teen was up to any good, and very good evidence that he was up to something very bad indeed

Eventually, the teen came to a building, a type of temple perhaps, built of sturdy wood. Its age was showing, and there were a number of curios holes spread randomly across the roof and walls. There was a medium sized pond in the garden. The house was silent, its occupants most likely asleep. The teen took a key out of his pocket. His hands shook as he silently put the key into the lock. His hands, slippery with blood, let go of the key. It hit the floor with a slight _ting, _spraying ruby droplets on the wooden surface

"Damn it" the teen muttered as he picked up the key

Trying again, he smoothly turned the lock and crept in. He immediately sneaked to the bathroom. The door was sensitively closed, and locked with a satisfying click. The teen had not realized that he was holding his breath, letting his lungs clear his body. The faucet was turned on, spewing a torrent of cold water. Hands were thrust into the sink, dried and drying blood flushing off skin. The porcelain turned a transparent red as what must have been gallons of blood washed off his hands.

Suddenly, there came a light tapping

"Ranma? What are you doing in there?" a light female voice inquired through the wood

"I-I'm just washing a little" Ranma stuttered

"Well, okay, but come back to bed soon, okay?"

"Okay Akane, I will"

Almost immediately, Ranma heard a yawn as the wood creaked protestingly under Akane's lithe weight

He breathed a deep sigh of relief and continued attacking his hands with a bar of soap. Soon, his hands were back to their natural color, and the blood was washed off

Taking a look in the mirror, Ranma saw himself; disheveled hair, eyes that normally sparkled with joviality where now deadened by what he had done. His skin was an unhealthy pallor. Only now did he realize that his shirt was sticky with blood. Shivering, he pulled the fabric away from his skin. It was already getting stiff. Ranma threw the shirt into the bath and ran the water. The bath began filling up with murkish water

"What the fuck!" Ranma extorted. He thought for a second, his hands in the bloody water. The stopper was blocking the way, he realized, moving to remove it. Water began rushing out of the bath and the blood along with it. Ranma stripped down and shoved his clothes into the washing machine and scooped a few handfuls of detergent into it. He walked across the empty hall naked. Akane's room(He slept there with her currently) was a mess; Ranma was contributing a large amount of the clothing that was all over the floor. Akane was snugly sleeping, the intake of oxygen pushing the crisp sheet up with a slight crackling. Ranma slipped in, his arms encompassing Akane's warmth

"Hey baby" he whispered into her ear

There was a perceptible reaction as she moved her body closer to his. Ranma could feel a sudden arousement in his loins; but he could not sleep with Akane tonight, no, not this night. He looked up at the ceiling and began to think, stopping as fast as he began. Thinking about what he had done would only make his guilt worse. With a feeling of sinking certainty, Ranma knew he would not sleep well tonight, or for many more night in fact


End file.
